Ranking full gold sovereigns

[17RSB]

Hi everyone 

I am new to this community and recently got the stacking bug and got my first sov - 2018 QEII. 

As I am trying to build my knowledge base on sovereigns what would you say are the best to not so best in order? 

Having read some threads I have seen some users not liking the modern sovs due to the colour so I presume they d be down the bottom? 

Any insight would be great 

Thanks 

[Tn21]

I personally buy sovs purley for the gold content, in my books they are all the same. 

I think ranking them only applies if you are a collector and a enthusiast of coins. 

[Darr3nG]

Just now, Tn21 said:

I personally buy sovs purley for the gold content, in my books they are all the same. 

I think ranking them only applies if you are a collector and a enthusiast of coins. 

You could rank them by gold content... 7.98g < 7.99g < 8.00g  

[JamesH]

Personally I like the modern special years as well as shields and young victorias. Horses for courses though. Either stack for weight or buy what you enjoy 👍🏼

[James32]

37 minutes ago, 17RSB said:

Hi everyone 

I am new to this community and recently got the stacking bug and got my first sov - 2018 QEII. 

As I am trying to build my knowledge base on sovereigns what would you say are the best to not so best in order? 

Having read some threads I have seen some users not liking the modern sovs due to the colour so I presume they d be down the bottom? 

Any insight would be great 

Thanks 

Every body likes different things. You and only you can work that out.

I'm with @Tn21 I buy sovereigns for there gold Content only..I do try and pick up as many modern special reverse coins as possible. In my opinion they will always be sought after/ needed for date runs in people's collections.

If you held and gun to my head I'd go in this order..

#1 shield sovereign in excellent condition

#2 gillicks

#3 Machins

#4 modern special reverse that are years..2002/2005/2012/2017/2022J/2022M/2023KC111

#5 anything in-between that's in relatively good condition.

 

[SeverinDigsSovereigns]

If you don't mind shiny new ones, then no problem. Apart from the finish they also suffer from low relief and poor details, possibly due to the use of laser engraving.

If you prefer the lustrous look of old currency sovereigns, most George V, Gillick QEII and Machin QEII sovereigns can be bought at low premium in UNC condition. Edward VII and earlier ones warrant a bit more hassle in uncirculated condition. The first 4 portraits (George III, IIII and William IIII) cost roughly £4k each in MS61 or above. 

Shield sovereigns aren't worth much more than a generic sovereign unless in very good condition or key dates. But I think the shield is a superior design. 

[Earthmetal]

For me the older the better (without paying shield premiums). I'd rather have age, history, and patina, than shiny new. Mostly you can get sovs way over 100 years old for less than a brand new one. I'd rather see Edward VII than charlie boy any day.

[Spyder]

If you can get a loose proof Raphael Maklouf Sovereign (85-97) within £10-£15 of a regular sovereign, this would be my first choice all the time. 

[ZRPMs]

I can only add a quick insight to my collecting journey. To start off with it was closest to spot price and just gold weight. So any best buy sovereigns from the main dealers or any comparable priced sovereign elsewhere. This opened the door to noticing the different Mints. Then the different designs. The more you pick up the more you will notice the variations. Once you have a good start to your collection you may want to pick up some of the most sought after date's or variations. You never know. It could lead you to wanting to collect Years, Mints, Variations, Errors etc etc etc. Anyway the humble sovereign I think is a nice coin to cut your teeth on.  

[17RSB]

Great advice from you all. Look forward to trading with you all 👍

[Petra]

1 hour ago, Spyder said:

If you can get a loose proof Raphael Maklouf Sovereign (85-97) within £10-£15 of a regular sovereign, this would be my first choice all the time. 

Ever the hopeful buyer!🤔😮⛄️⛄️

[AaaGee]

Maybe just go for 2022 & 23 sovereigns to start with. People knock them but most if not everyone has some. And will sell easily if needs be.

[Orpster]

Will depend on your stacking goals and your exit strategy

If all you plan is to accumulate as much weight as you can and sell to a dealer as part of your retirement plan, stack the lowest premium coins you can get.  Over time you may find you have a preference for a certain portrait or gravitate towards special reverse.  Lots of people will try and put together date runs of coins which can make stacking more enjoyable but you risk ending up paying a premium for lower mintage years.  

If you plan to sell privately I would say stack what you think is going to be popular in the future.  I do this and 75-80% off my stack is pre-1887 sovereigns.  This of course is an assumption on my part that age will add value over time.  An argument could be made those moderns people turn their noses up now could well become the popular coins with future stackers, the mintage numbers are certainly lower. 

I also park money in Gold apart from my longer term stack and for that I tend to buy moderns, special reverse mostly (2002/2005/2012/2022/2022/2023) and these I sell when I need money.  I find these sell very quickly when priced right.  I also try and keep 10% of my stack in premium coins, proof and graded.  This is a hedge against market trends.  If I need to sell and bullion is going for low premiums or is hard to sell at the time it is often the case the graded or proof market will still be buoyant. 

Last bit of advise, keep detailed records.  Date, seller, price paid, what price spot was at the time, as much as you can.  Take a picture of everything you buy and keep it.  Also keep a record of your stack with approximate values.  I have a spreadsheet for this that you can add coins to and an estimate of the premium it would currently command.  You just add the current spot price, details of the coin and the premium and it will tell you everything you need to know, I will attach a blank copy here for you to have a play with.  It is only set up for full and half sovereigns at the moment but it can quite easily be tailored for other coins.  If you do use it when you add a row, do it in the middle of a section otherwise if upsets the calculations

Welcome to the Goldbug club 

 

Inventory Blank.xlsx

[17RSB]

7 minutes ago, Orpster said:

Will depend on your stacking goals and your exit strategy

If all you plan is to accumulate as much weight as you can and sell to a dealer as part of your retirement plan, stack the lowest premium coins you can get.  Over time you may find you have a preference for a certain portrait or gravitate towards special reverse.  Lots of people will try and put together date runs of coins which can make stacking more enjoyable but you risk ending up paying a premium for lower mintage years.  

If you plan to sell privately I would say stack what you think is going to be popular in the future.  I do this and 75-80% off my stack is pre-1887 sovereigns.  This of course is an assumption on my part that age will add value over time.  An argument could be made those moderns people turn their noses up now could well become the popular coins with future stackers, the mintage numbers are certainly lower. 

I also park money in Gold apart from my longer term stack and for that I tend to buy moderns, special reverse mostly (2002/2005/2012/2022/2022/2023) and these I sell when I need money.  I find these sell very quickly when priced right.  I also try and keep 10% of my stack in premium coins, proof and graded.  This is a hedge against market trends.  If I need to sell and bullion is going for low premiums or is hard to sell at the time it is often the case the graded or proof market will still be buoyant. 

Last bit of advise, keep detailed records.  Date, seller, price paid, what price spot was at the time, as much as you can.  Take a picture of everything you buy and keep it.  Also keep a record of your stack with approximate values.  I have a spreadsheet for this that you can add coins to and an estimate of the premium it would currently command.  You just add the current spot price, details of the coin and the premium and it will tell you everything you need to know, I will attach a blank copy here for you to have a play with.  It is only set up for full and half sovereigns at the moment but it can quite easily be tailored for other coins.  If you do use it when you add a row, do it in the middle of a section otherwise if upsets the calculations

Welcome to the Goldbug club 

 

Inventory Blank.xlsx 13.64 kB · 0 downloads

Thanks Orpster some solid advice there. At the moment I am just stacking for retirement but you have given me some food for thought now with your post. Thanks for the template too

[HonestMoneyGoldSilver]

5 hours ago, 17RSB said:

Hi everyone 

I am new to this community and recently got the stacking bug and got my first sov - 2018 QEII. 

As I am trying to build my knowledge base on sovereigns what would you say are the best to not so best in order? 

Having read some threads I have seen some users not liking the modern sovs due to the colour so I presume they d be down the bottom? 

Any insight would be great 

Thanks 

I'm one of those people who doesn't love the colour of modern sovs. If you are referring to my comment yesterday, I said my next purchases are still likely to be those same modern sovs due to the reasons @James32 and others discussed. I don't have any 2023 KCIIIs and that's something I need. The modern designs can be great if not the colour, I love the 2022 QEII platinum jubilee. The other thing I want are shields. Modern full sovs have tiny mintages (25,000-430,000) compared with older sovs (millions) and generally go for a lowish premium. If they become popular in future the modern sovs could increase quite a lot in value relative to the other sovs

If you start buying you'll end up like the rest of us and attempt to buy them all anyway 😂 so really you're just talking about where to start. Low premium stacking gold is a solid place to begin until you get to know a bit more about the numismatic side. My first purchase was a modern sovereign

[Earthmetal]

33 minutes ago, Orpster said:

I have a spreadsheet for this that you can add coins to and an estimate of the premium it would currently command.  You just add the current spot price, details of the coin and the premium and it will tell you everything you need to know, I will attach a blank copy here for you to have a play with.  It is only set up for full and half sovereigns at the moment but it can quite easily be tailored for other coins.  If you do use it when you add a row, do it in the middle of a section otherwise if upsets the calculations

Welcome to the Goldbug club 

 

Inventory Blank.xlsx 13.64 kB · 4 downloads

Wow, thanks very much! I have a Mac and expected this to be Windows only, but tried it all the same. Appears to work perfectly. I'm dead chuffed!
I did try adding rows for tenth ounce, etc but couldn't get the total to update. We need dedicated spreadsheet thread I think.
At the moment I keep written records, not sure I could go digital only, but if not I'd be recording everything twice every time I purchased!

[Orpster]

14 minutes ago, Earthmetal said:

Wow, thanks very much! I have a Mac and expected this to be Windows only, but tried it all the same. Appears to work perfectly. I'm dead chuffed!
I did try adding rows for tenth ounce, etc but couldn't get the total to update. We need dedicated spreadsheet thread I think.
At the moment I keep written records, not sure I could go digital only, but if not I'd be recording everything twice every time I purchased!

Next time I’m on the laptop will add 10ths in for you and drop you a pm, let me know if you have other sizes

[Earthmetal]

29 minutes ago, Orpster said:

Next time I’m on the laptop will add 10ths in for you and drop you a pm, let me know if you have other sizes

Top man!
I have full, half, and quarter sovs. Also tenth & Quarter ounce. That's it for coins apart from a few old foreign oddballs.
Oh, and a recent glut of Royal Mint 1g & 5g bars... 😄

[dicker]

For me there is a reasonably natural ranking in that earlier Sovs are for me far more desirable.  There are exceptions but this is my general rule. 

[GoldDiggerDave]

You can make “stacking” sovereigns into a free hobby, by collecting different monarchs, dates, mint marks, and reverse designs there’s so much variety. 
 

Get a copy of the latest Marsh……and for those saying all sovereigns are the same go and sit on the Naughty Step

[GoldDiggerDave]

You could start at 1489 but you might find it a bit of a pricey venture.  
 

Possibly get a bullion sovereign from your birth year if they were minted, or birthdays etc.

Different monarchs (mostly) are easy to acquire without too much premium.